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| Winter's Tale - 2014 |
Coming up next is 2014's "Winter's Tale", a story about two people who fall in love. One dies, and the other continues to walk the earth nearly a century later searching for his "miracle".
The film's cast includes Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Russell Crowe, William Hurt, Jennifer Connelly, Will Smith, Ripley Sobo, Eva Marie Saint, and Graham Greene.
I love the opening monologue for this film. "What if, once upon a
time, there were no stars in the sky at all?
What if the stars are not what we
think? What if the light from afar
doesn't come from the rays of distant suns, but from
our wings as we turn into angels? Destiny calls to each
of us. And there is a world behind the
world where we are all connected. All part of a great and moving plan. Magic is everywhere around us. You just have to look. Look.
Look closely. For even time and
distance are not what they appear to be. We are voyagers set
on a course towards destiny to find the one person our miracle is meant for. But be warned: as we seek out the light,
darkness gathers. And the eternal contest between
Good and Evil is not fought with great armies, but one life at a time."
In 1916, Pearly Soames is out to get a young man named Peter Lake. Pearly is in fact a demon who runs the city of New York as a gangster. And Peter used to work for him as a thief.
A mysterious white horse arrives on the scene as Peter's cronies close in around Peter. Peter climbs on its back and is astonished to discover that the horse has wings. The two make a quick getaway.
Peter decides to give up his life of crime and ride the horse to Florida. However, before he can go, the horse stops in front of a large house and won't budge. Peter decides to do one more "job" before riding south.
Within the house, a young woman named Beverly Penn is seeking relief from a high fever. She has consumption. In fact, she must sleep outside in the cold weather and bathe in frigid waters to keep the fever at bay.
When he catches her playing the piano as he attempts to rob her house, Peter can't take his eyes off of Beverly. She completely captivates him.
She takes him to the kitchen and invites him to have tea with her. They start to fall in love right then and there.
Meanwhile, Pearly has discovered that it is Peter's destiny to provide a "miracle" for a girl with red hair. Thinking that this girl is Beverly, he contrives to kill her and prevent Peter from saving her. Peter arrives just in time on his horse and spirits her away.
They ride to the Lake of the Coheeries, where Beverly's family has a large estate. There, Peter is welcomed by the Penn family and especially by Beverly's little sister Willa.
Peter and Beverly spend a lot of time together and fall deeper in love.
When Pearly goes to Lucifer and asks to be allowed to follow Peter (he is bound by supernatural laws that limit his movements to the five boroughs of New York), his request is denied. Pearly calls in a favor and plans to poison Beverly.
Back in New York, Peter and Beverly attend a ball (Beverly's first). They have a wonderful time. Unfortunately, the poison is delivered in Beverly's glass of champagne, and she drinks it unaware of what she is sipping.
Beverly dies that night in Peter's arm. Peter is extremely distraught at being helpless to save her as he loses the love of his life.
Peter watches Beverly's funeral from afar. Her little sister Willa looks off into the distance and sees him.
Willa approaches Peter, who apologizes for not being able to save Beverly.
Later that day, Peter is cornered by Pearly and his group of fellow demon thugs. After he sends his horse off to save its life, Peter is pushed off the Brooklyn Bridge by a very satisfied Pearly, who watches him splash into the waters below.
We flash forward to 2014, where we find out that Peter is still miraculously alive. However, he suffers from amnesia and an obsession with the drawing of a girl with red hair that he was supposed to save and couldn't.
With the help of a woman named Virginia Gamely, Peter is able to recover his memories.
Virginia is quite shocked that Peter and the man in the hundred-year-old photos seem to be the same. "What's happening here?" she asks.
She takes Peter up to meet her boss, who just happens to be Beverly's little sister Willa.
When Peter calls out her name, Willa holds out her arms and embraces him, recognition lighting up her eyes.
Willa takes Peter and Virginia back to her house, where she offers them tea in the kitchen. It's the same house that Peter knew all those years ago, and memories of Beverly come flooding back to him. When Virginia asks Willa for some kind of explanation, all Willa can say is, "Well, in a life this
long, you do see things. Things that
don't always add up to the world we think we
know."
While all of this is going on, Pearly finds out from Lucifer that Peter was Beverly's miracle, and it caused him not to die. Pearly asks to be made mortal so that he can fight Peter and end his life once and for all. Lucifer grants the request.
Virginia invites Peter back to her apartment for dinner. There, he discovers that she has a daughter that is very ill with cancer. Peter comes to realize that it is Virginia's daughter, Abby, that he is supposed to save. He is her miracle.
When Pearly gets too close, Peter takes Virginia and Abby (by way of the mysterious horse that has returned) to the abandoned Penn estate at Lake of the Coheeries.
Pearly shows up and an epic battle rages. Ultimately, Peter is able to defeat him. Pearly turns into snow as the last bit of life ebbs from his mortal body.
Peter is able to save the dying Abby, and Virginia gratefully scoops her into her arms.
With his mission accomplished, Peter visits Beverly's gravesite. There, he stares into the eyes of his horse and realizes it's time to go and join Beverly.
Peter climbs onto the horse's back. The horse gallops quickly and flies into the stars, as Beverly narrates the ending. "No life is more important
than another. And nothing has been
without purpose. Nothing. What if we are all part of a great pattern
that we may someday understand? And one day, when we
have done what we alone are capable of doing, we get to rise up and reunite with those
we have loved the most, forever embraced.
What if we get to become stars?"
Cast rundown:
Colin Farrell..................................Peter Lake
Jessica Brown Findlay.....................Beverly Penn
Russell Crowe...............................Pearly
William Hurt..................................Isaac Penn
Jennifer Connelly...........................Virginia Gamely
Will Smith.....................................The Judge
Ripley Sobo..................................Abby Gamely
Eva Marie Saint.............................Willa Penn
Graham Greene.............................Humpstone John
And that's all for Winter's Tale. The book that this film was based on was published in 1983. That same year, the author sold the film rights to Steven Spielberg. Martin Scorcese was also interested in the film rights, but backed out as he deemed it "unfilmable".
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